BRI Announces Findings of Common Loon Translocation Study

Article ID: 679786

Released: 21-Aug-2017 9:00 AM EDT

Portland, ME—Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) has confirmed today that the translocation of loon chicks from Maine to Massachusetts has resulted in at least one loon returning to its release lake. In its fifth year of a five-year initiative funded by the Ricketts Conservation Foundation, Restore the Call is the largest Common Loon conservation study ever conducted. Research efforts have focused in three key U.S. breeding population areas from the western mountains to the Atlantic seaboard.

Restoring bird species to their former range is an accepted bird conservation practice, but this is the first time translocation has been carried out for the Common Loon.

“This is a big moment for loon conservation,” says David Evers, Ph.D., BRI’s executive director and a leading expert on loon ecology and conservation. “This is the first time a translocated loon chick has returned to the lake from which it was released. The implications for future conservation efforts to help restore loons to their former breeding range are tremendous.”

The banded one-year-old juvenile (a term given to loons under three years of age) sighted early on Wednesday morning, August 16, was confirmed to be one of five chicks that were successfully translocated from Maine in the summer of 2016, reared in and released on a lake in southeastern Massachusetts. The juvenile, sighted again on the following day, was initially observed in a group with two other young loons, all in basic plumage (they had not yet developed the recognizable black and white breeding plumage).

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Pollutants Threaten Iconic Canadian Bird – Earth Matters by Jacqueline Milner

CFN – For all Canadian Cottage goers and summer water seekers the sight and sounds of the Common Loon lift the spirit and add that special something to a retreat spent away from the ‘day to day’ in our down-time spent near the water. The soul stirring call of Canada’s Iconic Loon is experiencing challenges according to recent news from Bird Studies Canada.

Bird Studies Canada’s new report The Canadian Lakes Loon Survey 1981-2012 reveals worrisome trends for the Common Loon, an iconic species. Pollution (in the form of mercury and acid precipitation) is the suspected cause.

Currently Common Loon pairs are successfully producing enough chicks to maintain a stable population. Unfortunately, Bird Studies Canada’s research shows that their reproductive success (defined as the annual number of young raised to six weeks of age) has significantly declined since 1992. And the trends indicate that even worse news may be around the corner. If the current rate of decline continues, Common Loon numbers are expected to begin decreasing within two decades.

“We are approaching the tipping point. Annual reproductive success may soon drop below the minimum level required for these birds to sustain their numbers,” says Bird Studies Canada scientist Dr. Doug Tozer, the lead author of the report.

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